Austria

Austria 2018

Even if, in modern jazz, we may encounter various combinations of instruments, four clarinets – three of which are bass! – is something unusual. So is the Woody Black 4’s approach to practicing jazz. The four clarinetists draw from its tradition, having mainly as a role model the bass clarinet pioneer, Eric Dolphy, but at same time staying close to the folk music – those of Central Europe and of the Balkans in particular – or classical music. They usually lay themselves on the beauty and the harmony of jazz or classical music but also turn to the creative improvising dynamics. Woody Black 4, based at Vienna, is about four virtuosos clarinetists who are happy to experiment and flirt with the avant-garde whilst creating beautiful and mesmerizing music right from the modern jazz tradition.